Pages

Monday, March 25, 2013

5-Ingredient Mondays: Gingered Apples

Thank you to Debi Smith of Hunter's Lyonesse for providing me with this week's 5 ingredient recipe. Debi's blog has been one of my favorites for years because we love the same types of recipes and she has an infectious joy for life that comes through in all her posts. I encourage you to stop by Debi's blog after reading her recipe for Gingered Apples (below) and look through her many recipes. The savory recipes are my favorite!

Here are the rules for 5-Ingredient Mondays:

The dish must contain 5
ingredients or less. But to make it easier, pantry staples are not counted as ingredients. Neither are optional ingredients.

Examples: salt, pepper, olive oil, baking soda, baking
powder...basically if you think you would find the ingredient in any
kitchen, you don't have to count it as one of your 5 ingredients. On the
other hand, if it's a staple in your kitchen but not the average
American's (i.e. coconut oil), count it. If you're unsure, go ahead and
add the link. I'm not a stickler for rules!

The dish must be gluten-free. Your recipe can be paleo, vegan, or anything in between. Breakfast,
lunch, dinner or dessert. Side dish or main dish. The purpose here is to
create a place where you can come to find recipes that you know will be
gluten-free and super simple.

You must leave a link to your own recipe that goes to that week's 5-Ingredient Monday post, not on this static page.

Your recipes don't need to
be from this week, so feel free to check your recipe list for your
favorite recipes to share. I will sometimes share photos of the
recipes with links back to your blog, so by sharing your recipe, you are
giving me permission to use your photo and link back to your recipe.

The linky will be live through noon on Thursday.

I
knew I wanted to give you something versatile when Iris asked me if I
would do a guest post for 5-Ingredient Mondays. I could come up with
something completely new or share something I was already making but had
not shared yet.

I
was introduced to fried apples when I moved to Kentucky nearly sixteen
years ago. It was heaven for an apple pie fiend like me. I did not have
to wait for dessert; it could be right there with my entrée and other
sides. It is not something I ate often with dinner, but it made me think
outside the box. If I wanted apple pie but did not want to make pie
crust, I could do fried apples and be happy.

I
decided I was going to make gluten-free crepes for my birthday
breakfast last year. I had a dairy-free chocolate hazelnut spread in my
fridge and I wanted apples as a second filling. I intended to make
gingered apples while I was making the crepes. I figured out pretty fast
that an apple filling wasn’t going to happen while keeping an eye on
the crepes.

Gingered
apples can be a side, a dessert, a snack, or breakfast. Top it with
some granola. Dice up the apples and use them in a crepe or on top of
ice cream. Throw them in a bowl and eat them as is. I paired the
gingered apples with honey mustard pork chops. The combination of
ginger, honey, and mustard might sound funny to you, but it worked.

You
can use either fresh ginger, which is my preference, or you can use
ground ginger. I used coconut oil the first time I made it because I
knew it would go well with the ginger and apples. I continue to use it
because I’ve had to cut out sunflower seeds and Earth Balance spreads
either have soy, sunflower seed, or both. You can use whatever you want
as your fat in the pan – butter, Earth Balanace, bacon fat, etc.

Add minced ginger and
stir. Let the ginger sit for about a minute until it is fragrant.

Add
the apples and pinch of salt (and ground ginger if using it instead of
fresh ginger) and stir until well coated with the oil. Cover the pan and
turn the heat down to medium low for 3-5 minutes. Stir and cover again
for 3-5 minutes. They are done when the apples have softened, but are
not falling apart.

3 comments:

Great post, Debi! I think that folks forget about how easily an apple can become an amazing dessert. I love eating them plain or with sea salt, but as you've shown with just a little extra spice, they become a heavenly dessert. :-)

I've linked up one of my "go to" recipes for a side for dinner. I often make it to send to friends as part of a care mealand it works well for us, too. Mr. GFE even thinks these simple pan baked (microwave magic) potatoes taste like twice bakeds.;-)

This is my first time on this blog-hop, and I'm excited to share Simple, Sunny Sweet Potatoes! Bright roots, amped up with orange and saffron. (I figured everyone already has olive oil, cinnamon, and salt in their stash.) :)